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Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom is the egomaniacal ruler of Latveria and an enemy of the Fantastic Four. History Early Years Born Victor van Damme, he was herald from European aristocracy and directly descended from the Romanian noble, Vlad Tepes Dracul. He was raised under a harsh life by his father, who routinely disciplined Victor. At first Victor despised his father, he soon realized the necessity of his father's actions; his father wished him to learn of his heritage, and to understand what his destiny was to be. Following the death of his father, Victor traveled to Latveria, which was then in the mired grip of a corrupt monarchy, and waged a guerrilla war against the king's regime. During his campaign, Victor fell in love with a Latverian woman named Valeria. A year later, on the day before Christmas, Victor was approached by Valeria, who begged him to give up his cause as she see there is no end to the conflict. Initially torn, Victor agreed to run away with her. At the time he had been offered a scholarship in the United States, to further his studies; in which he accepted to take Valeria with him. Unfortunately government soldiers were tipped off by an informant and attacked Victor's home. He and Valeria managed to escape, but the latter was mortally wounded. Valeria died in his arms on Christmas Day. Victor suffered a tragic blow and almost lost the will to live. He, however, gradually realized that Valeria would want him to continue on in which he did. Victor traveled to the United States and studied at the Baxter Building, where he became a colleague of Reed Richards. Subsequently, Victor took control of his father's company Van Damme Industries and its holdings. He later came to adopt Anita LeRoux, a mutant who was orphaned in a mental facility that was purchased by Victor to expand his company, and, realizing her potential, raised her as his legitimate daughter and heir. Victor was responsible for funding Reed Richards and his team's experiment of constructing a quantum teleporter; however, Doom believed that Richards made an error to the teleporter's codes and inserted his own. Unfortunately, the teleporter only mutated Victor, Richards and his team; in which Victor's entire body was turned into living metal. He blamed Reed Richards for his deformity and became his sworn enemy. After the incident, Victor returned to Latveria and finally deposed its corrupted government, and usurping as king under his new name Victor von Doom. Immediately thereafter, he instantly turned Latveria's whole economy and military into a powerhouse practically overnight. Though the international community and the Latverian people saw Doom as a dictator, he is a legitimate ruler of his own right and was viewed as a benign dictator for enriching Latveria and supporting its citizens. Doom, however, also carried a megalomania intent to which he use his country's resources in order to further his plans of world domination. These schemes led Doom into conflict with the Fantastic Four on many occasions, as well as many other superheroes. Mutant Alliance Doom later came upon Irene Adler and learning from her concerning a prophecy regarding a messianic figure that would help mutantkind. Interested of this foretelling, Doom allied with the mutant supremacist Magneto to further his agenda and helped in creating Genosha and Asteroid M. Unlike Magneto, Doom saw his colleague's view too narrow as he thought more about his race and believed that this figure would benefit the planet - though under Doom's vision. After Asteroid M was destroyed, Doom was confronted by Superman and forewarned that his schemes will be stopped in the future. Doom was not intimidated by the hero, but immediately saw his potential and as the being from Adler's prophecy. He decided to do whatever he takes to convince Superman to join his side on mutantkind.The Last Son, Book One: Gatherings, "Loose Ends" In his schemes, Doom sent his daughter Siryn to attend Bayville High and seducing Superman.The Last Son, Book Two: Reckonings, "Siryn's Song" Doom also sought an Orb of Agamotto and offered it to Superman to use its magical power to bring him back to Krypton; however, to Doom's shock Superman crushed the Orb and informed him that Krypton was destroyed along with its people long ago and clarifying to Doom that he is the last of his kind.Ibid, "Home" In an alliance with Sebastian Shaw, Doom secretly provided the Friends of Humanity with Kryptonite-based weaponry and the funds in constructing Bolivar Trask's Sentinels. The financing of the F.O.H. culminated to the public exposure of mutants and the F.O.H.'s attempted attack on Genosha in which Doom had hoped that the anti-mutant backlash from the human public would convinced Superman to abandon his views on humanity. Doom's expectations did not came to pass and only to be interrupted by the arrival of Brainiac Mark VI, which forced Doom to end his alliance with Magneto and for the first time at an impasse in preventing the Mark VI from destroying the Earth until it was finally destroyed by the newly established Justice League. Personal Pursuit Since his fallout with Magneto, Doom strove to personally gain Superman's allegiance and access to his Kryptonian technology only through careful means. To this end, Doom worked behind the scene in a series of trials in capturing Superman by which he gained the Circlet of Morpheus from Attuma in exchange in help creating the Lemurian Noram, and obtaining a blood sample from Superman through Shinobi Shaw. He used this blood sample to create a clone of Superman, later called Bizarro, who went on a rampage to sully Superman's reputation; kidnapped Martha Kent; and finally trapped Superman in an illusion in which he lives in a world similar to Krypton with a wife and children. Unfortunately, these heinous actions attracted the X-Men, the Justice League, and the Fantastic Four to Doom's castle. Even Siryn and Bizarro, disgusted by Doom's actions, betrayed and attacked him. Doom managed to hold his own against the heroes to a degree until Superman finally broke free of the illusion and attacked him in a fit of rage. Doom once again tried to get Superman to join him, but failed, and was ultimately defeated, having taken such a beating that the Martian Manhunter was able to read Doom's mind and learn the teleportation codes used in the accident that created the FF. He angrily threatened to expose Superman's secret identity, but the Man of Steel was unconcerned and pointed out that such an action would force Doom to admit that he had been defeated by a "Kansas Country Farmboy", which would obliterate Doom's reputation. The heroes depart, including Siryn, leaving a shocked and humiliated Doom behind. Doom, realizing that Superman will never join him, angrily vows revenge. Invasion Following this monumentous defeat, Doom isolated himself in his castle to further his own goals. When the Skrull, Kree, and Shi'ar Empires invaded Earth, Doom initially refused to get involved in helping Earth's defenders, stating that he would not fight unless Latveria was directly assaulted. When it inevitably was, he dutifully mustered his armed forces and helped drive the invaders back, personally leading the Royal Latverian Air Force into battle and destroying several Skrull and Kree ships while Siryn commanded the ground forces. Later, Doom reluctantly teamed up with the heroes to fight against General Zod when the latter made his own campaign for world conquest. When Zod attacked Doom's castle at the head of an android army, Doom was one of the last defenders to fall; despite putting up a spirited fight and using his own robots to destroy many of Zod's, he was ultimately overpowered by the insane Kryptonian, but was rescued by the Fantastic Four (much to The Thing's annoyance) before he could be killed. Personality Doctor Doom is characterized by extreme narcissism and egomania. He refers to himself in third person, further emphasizing his arrogance. Doom is utterly convinced that he is the most intelligent being in existence, and for all intense and purposes, he is one of the smartest beings in the universe, but he is far from the perfect being that he fancies himself as. He rules Latveria with an iron but fair fist, his controlling yet efficient nature having admittedly benefited his country in many ways: crime is practically nonexistent, and the economy, thanks to Doom's production of weaponry, is one of the foremost in the world. The citizens also genuinely worship him, with no real hints that he oppresses them. Both of these demonstrate that, if nothing else, Doom is a competent--if ruthless--politician and industrialist. Doom is also very power-hungry, and seeks nothing short of world (perhaps universal) domination, though unlike some villains with similar ambitions, Doom actually believes that everyone would truly benefit under his rule. Underneath this arrogant, cold, and ruthless demeanor, however, Doom is not completely inhumane. He fell in love with a woman named Valeria and wanted to marry her (though their affair ended in tragedy), and he adopted and raised Anita Leroux as his own daughter, and showed genuine parental affection on a number of occasions. Doom hates the Fantastic Four, blaming their leader, Mr. Fantastic, for his deformity, and wishes to destroy them and anyone who allies with them. Despite this, he is not above allying with his enemies if it means protecting his country and/or himself, such as bravely leading his army against the Skrull, Kree, and Shi'ar invaders; and joining the war against General Zod. He has also demonstrated that he is by no means a coward, as evidenced when he confronted Zod personally and fought him with great tenacity and bravery (if not arrogance), and refused to surrender, even when it became increasingly clear that he was no match for the Kryptonian. Powers and abilities Doom is a scientific genius and an accomplished sorcerer that rivaled Doctor Strange. Doom's entire body is composed completely of living metal following his transformation that changed the Fantastic Four. Doom has constructed numerous devices in order to defeat his foes, including an armed force of numerous robots; Doom's calculating and strategic nature leads him to use "Doombots," exact mechanical replicas of the real Doctor Doom. Relationships Anita LeRoux Despite Doom's brutal reputation, he has always been a very caring father to Anita, helping to nurture her mutant powers and talents as a sorceress, honing both these skills to their peak. The only flaw in their relationship is that Doom has been too accommodating of Anita's desires, with the result that she had little real experience with rejection or failure until she met Superman. He's still not above disciplining her when she acts rashly, although the two remain close and she still respects him. Their relationship became somewhat strained after his attempt to brainwash Superman into revealing his secrets, when Anita's conflicted loyalties caused her to side with Superman and his allies and decide that she couldn't follow his footsteps anymore. Fantastic Four Doom was close friends with Reed Richards in their college years, the two being equals in terms of scientific knowledge. However, after the quantum teleporter experiment went wrong and mutated all of them, he came to blame Richards (even though it was his own fault), and became a sworn enemy of the Fantastic Four. Quotes Footnotes Category:Characters Category:Villains Category:Humans Category:Men Category:Royalty